Geocaching and hunting at the same time

[+storchburp]

Just want to say that I shot a delicious wild goat nearly on top of one of my recent finds last week. I know locally there are a few other hunters who also geocache but we tend to keep a fairly low profile due to local sentiment against hunting or firearms, but I just want to say...THANK YOU to my fellow cachers and this site for creating an incentive to explore areas we wouldn't have considered likely hunting grounds before, and for something to hunt when game is scarce.

 

Has anyone else here hunted or trapped something nice while caching?

Edited February 2, 2013 by storchburp

[+The_Incredibles_]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

[+wmpastor]

This thread implies that a Kevlar vest is recommended when seeking a FTF !

[+storchburp]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

 

No problem. I could go into the various safety precautions, but I do take the issue very seriously.

 

Well the 'Hunting' attribute already exists for caches. That said, I think hunting and geocaching have a lot in common - both develop outdoors and GPS skills, the ability to read tracks, spot something hidden and to anticipate your target's behaviour. I think its a wonderful opportunity to do cross-promotion between the organisations catering to the two activities. Sometimes I read logs from caches in promising areas to see if finders record any encounters with animals that can be legally taken, or else damage to the cache due to animals.

[+cerberus1]

I know of five caching couples and way more than that solo, who hunt and/or fish while caching throughout Pennsylvania.

With the PA Game Commission the largest land owner in this State, it fits...

 

The PA Game Commission is funded primarily by hunting and furtaker license sales, State Game Lands timber, mineral and oil/gas revenues and a federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition. The Commission is almost entirely supported by hunters and trappers, or assets that have been procured with license dollars. The Commission does not receive state General Fund appropriations. More than half its annual revenue comes from license sales.

- We're hiding/finding caches on their land, so it makes good sense to show our support for the hunters who own it.

Which we happen to be, also.

 

We've found tucked-away game lands and Parks that allow hunting and fish-packed creeks that are only accessible miles by foot.

We'd never know they existed if it wasn't for caching.

[+Heli Leo]

All tho I live in Iowa I too hunt in Pennsylvania and have for 45 years. I also geo cache and during summertime maintenance trips to the hunting camp have found several interesting locations for hunting and fishing while I was out and about cacheing.

[7rxc]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

I think you are safe from him... he lives in Victoria OK.. but the one in Australia.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+frinklabs]

I did a geocaching road trip in northern Ontario in the autumn during hunting season, and I just assumed at all times that there were hunters.

 

I wore blaze orange the whole time and boy did that shirt smell by the end of it.

 

I was even in downtown Timmins doing my first and only webcam cache, and still had the safety gear on:

 

[+Manville Possum]

I hunt rattlesnakes while I geocache, but I don't shoot them.

[+The_Incredibles_]

I did a geocaching road trip in northern Ontario in the autumn during hunting season,

 

Talk about living dangerously.

[+The_Incredibles_]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

I think you are safe from him... he lives in Victoria OK.. but the one in Australia.

 

Doug 7rxc

 

Thank goodness for that. All I have left to worry about now is the cougars stalking me.

[+storchburp]

Hahaha

 

Would it worry you to know that in most locations suitable for a geocache that also happen to be within an area where hunting is legal, chances are you would have walked right past someone heavily camoflaged and crouching with a gun without knowing? I have once simply decided to hunker down and wait for fellow geocachers to walk past without seeing me right by a cache, simply because I knew my appearance would be very alarming.

 

As a hunter, you become very sensitive to the soud of quadrupedal footsteps instead of human footsteps and this helps us avoid other people in the bush. Even kangaroos where I live have the distinctive thump-thump hopping noise and they cannot be shot by recreational hunters on public land. I go for rabbits, hares, foxes, wild dog, goats and deer.

 

On a more serious note, safety wise I notice some misuse of the Hunting attribute. I've seen it attached to caches where hunting is illegal in the area and presume that the hider must have encountered poachers or overheard gunshots on adjacent private property. I don't expect cachers to be safe if they are encountering armed criminals who are already there illegally, while the latter example could lead a geocacher who also hunts to believe that its OK to hunt there and unwittingly break the law.

[+The_Incredibles_]

What, like this guy?

 

 

With the cost of meat these days, I think I'm going to have to try this hunting thing.

[+Isonzo Karst]

Some of my caches are mostly found in hunting season by hunter cachers. Some folks that have been doing both for years, and some years a few who've recently learned about caching. Once that I know about, a hunter found the cache, read the stash note, and got turned on to the game. One of my small caches, way out, gets found more by hunters than cachers. Every year I check it, find sigs, and usually shells.

 

To all those out shooting pigs, I wish you well.

[+lamoracke]

Definitely one of the reasons when I was shopping for a nice waterproof coat that had pockets, I made sure to find one that was very orange.

[+JKMonkey]

Talk about increasing the difficulty level O_o

[medoug]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

Talk about increasing the difficulty level O_o

 

Looking for caches in "hunting permitted" areas does not affect the difficulty level, nor should it scare you. It just requires that one use a little common sense and realize that the area is a "shared use" recreation area. As both a hunter and a fellow cacher, here's a few guidelines that I recommend when searching for caches in these areas:

 

• Read signage along the borders of the area. A few areas will be closed to all activities except for hunting during active hunting seasons. If it is limited to hunters only when you're there, look for the cache on another day.
  
• Be aware of the local hunting season schedules. Most hunting is prohibited at night, so you might want to return then to make it a night cache find.
  
• Wear orange blaze (hat and/or vest) when entering the area during hunting season. (I explicitly recommend this in my cache description if I know that the cache has been hidden in a designated hunting area.)
  
• Look at the attributes for the cache. The hunting attribute, if applied correctly, will indicate if extra precautions need to be taken.
  
• Stay on the main trails as much as possible during your search. Most caches only require bushwacking for the last several feet.
  
• Don't diddle-dally in the area during hunting season. Find the cache and then leave. Your presence could be scaring away game and messing up the hunt for any hunters in the area. It's called courtesy.
  
• Despite what you hear in the news, most hunters aren't blindly shoot into the brush at any sound or movement. The last thing a hunter wants to do is accidentally shoot at a human. You don't need to be scared if following these guidelines.
  
• If you still don't feel comfortable searching for the cache in the area, don't do it. There's other caches to find and other days (outside of hunting season) to find that particular cache.
  

 

If others have other suggestion/guidelines that I may have missed, please post them on this forum topic.

Edited February 3, 2013 by medoug

[+worstcaster]

I went geocaching and squirrel hunting last week. I usually won't do it during a big game season because I make too much noise.

[+wimseyguy]

I don't hunt, but there are lots of great caches placed on NC State Gamelands. During hunting season I will only seek those on Sundays when hunting isn't allowed. I especially enjoy those areas during non-hunting season as I can let the dog run off leash while I am caching. He's not much fun to cache with on his leash unless someone else is along to mind him while I search at GZ.

[+wmpastor]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

 

Actually, there is less risk of getting shot in the woods by a hunter than getting shot by urban gunfire while bagging a LPC!

[+bflentje]

I cache every spring while turkey hunting and every fall while deer hunting. Making statements about it being a danger is pretty reckless.

[+Mn-treker]

while hunting you look for your prey as well as looking for other hunters.

But try geocache while you are being hunted. In the areas that hunting is allowed the animals might be hunting you while you seek the cache.

Cougars Bears and Wolves Oh! MY!.

Edited February 6, 2013 by Mn-treker

[Andronicus]

I hid a cache while out hunting. It is in the parking area, so finders are unlikely to be shot. However, it does have the hunting attribute, and a warning on the cache page. I check on it every time I am out there.

[+ras_oscar]

Hunting while geocaching? Yikes! OK, I guess before you shoot, take a good look out for other geocachers.

Talk about increasing the difficulty level O_o

 

Looking for caches in "hunting permitted" areas does not affect the difficulty level, nor should it scare you. It just requires that one use a little common sense and realize that the area is a "shared use" recreation area. As both a hunter and a fellow cacher, here's a few guidelines that I recommend when searching for caches in these areas:

 

• Read signage along the borders of the area. A few areas will be closed to all activities except for hunting during active hunting seasons. If it is limited to hunters only when you're there, look for the cache on another day.
  
• Be aware of the local hunting season schedules. Most hunting is prohibited at night, so you might want to return then to make it a night cache find.
  
• Wear orange blaze (hat and/or vest) when entering the area during hunting season. (I explicitly recommend this in my cache description if I know that the cache has been hidden in a designated hunting area.)
  
• Look at the attributes for the cache. The hunting attribute, if applied correctly, will indicate if extra precautions need to be taken.
  
• Stay on the main trails as much as possible during your search. Most caches only require bushwacking for the last several feet.
  
• Don't diddle-dally in the area during hunting season. Find the cache and then leave. Your presence could be scaring away game and messing up the hunt for any hunters in the area. It's called courtesy.
  
• Despite what you hear in the news, most hunters aren't blindly shoot into the brush at any sound or movement. The last thing a hunter wants to do is accidentally shoot at a human. You don't need to be scared if following these guidelines.
  
• If you still don't feel comfortable searching for the cache in the area, don't do it. There's other caches to find and other days (outside of hunting season) to find that particular cache.
  

 

If others have other suggestion/guidelines that I may have missed, please post them on this forum topic.

 

Good advice. I've only encountered deer hunters once or twice. I usually go to urban areas to cache during deer season, giving the hunters the forest, since deer season is much shorter than caching season. I keep a blaze orange hat in the back of the cache mobile and will put it on if I have any belief that its deer season. Those of us that don't hunt often have difficulties identifying where/when hunting season occurs. I checked the state website once and was shocked that the schedule is so complicated. There is a state hunt schedule, then there are county variances to those rules, there's a junior hunt, a primitive arms hunt, and each of these for a long list of game. If I were to add them all together, i'd probably find it's hunting season somewhere in the state 52 weeks a year. That's just my home state. I also cache in 3 neighboring states, which I am sure have their own rules. Is there an online reference that can tell me, for a given day, what the hunt schedule is?

[+cerberus1]

In our State (PA), we temp disable the two weeks of the (very busy) rifled deer season and open again when it's done.

We mention that in game lands hunters may be present in the cache pages.

If you cache in these areas, best to do that little research on seasons.

There's a season for hunting (small to big game) from October through February, with some species able to be hunted on Sundays and year-round.

I don't know of a daily schedule site, but it does seem like a good idea.

[+cerberus1]

I did find this one, showing seasons in every State.

- But you'll have to do the legwork yourself.